Hearing loss is compounded by Alzheimer's which has compromised her brains ability to decipher decode words
Doctor half suggested cochlear implants which no one is in favor of. What are some more practical solutions to maximize her hearing. She already has a hearing aid.
My hubby thought he had lost hearing in one ear, as he couldn't hear one thing. Then I suggested a ENT doctor to check his ear. Sure enough, wax had harden so much that the doctor wasn't able to get it out on the first try. Eventually she suggested using a liquid child's laxative overnight in that ear, it did the trick. She was able to scrape the wax out bit by bit. Now hubby can hear in that ear ;)
On a side note, did you make any jokes about being a s#!thead? Cuz, honestly, that was my 1st thought, oh honey, even the doc agrees, she prescribed a laxative proving you are a.......I know I am so bad.
I am not saying your DH is, I just can't resist with things like this. I actually have to stop myself from goosing complete strangers that stick their butt's up in public. ;-)
If mom already has a hearing aid, there's not much more you can do for her but realize you may be dealing with aphasia now. Use a dry erase board and see if that helps. Or look into speakers on Amazon that magnify sounds.
Good luck.
Perhaps you use the old ‘system’ of a picture board showing the things M would be most likely to want, or you use a pad to write to her. Slow and limited, but a means of communication if all else fails. Best wishes to you both, Margaret
Is Asphasia ever helped by hearing aides?
I would ask hearing experts these questions.
My Mother has sight impairment. Eyes were examined & found normal. Stroke damaged the vision processing part of her brain. She has learnt to adapt but glassess could not help.
I think the situatuon could be similar.
"What are some more practical solutions to maximize her hearing."
Our family has had to move to maximising *communication* as we can't change brain processing.
Calm environment. Good body language. Opportunity to lipread. Short sentences. Having something written down works for me. Try.. but I've met many people with Alz that although they can READ the words they still say "WHAT?" They can lose the ability to understand the meaning of the words.
Also does she need to be put under, because that could worsen her dementia.
My mom is deaf in one ear sence childhood, and poor hearing in the other, personally for her age I would never suggest that as an option, before really looking deeply into it
This operation is only good if the hairs in the cochlear have been compromised. Some babies are born without the hairs. Loud sounds tend to bend them and once bent they do not come back up. This causes hearing loss. I just read Margarets reply. I think that one problem, too, would be that the sounds you hear are digital. A baby would not know the difference but an adult who is used to hearing human voices may not like digital. My husband went from analog to digital aidscandvhadva hard time adjusting.